I can’t believe it’s been three years already since Maggie was born. Maggie is no longer a baby, but a little person. Just the other day we had a conversation at the dinner table.

Me: Maggie, put that down and eat your dinner.Maggie: But it’s important to me.Me: What did you say?Michelle: She said it’s important to her.Matt: That’s what I thought she said, but I didn’t think kids said that until later.

Three is going to be a tough year if she’s going to insist on having her own opinions and expressing them.

Maggie has been really into playing hide-and-seek recently. Most of the time it consists of her running into another room and sitting on the couch. Rarely does she hide even 50% of her body from plain view.

Yesterday we were playing, and I was counting upstairs. She ran downstairs to hide. I like to build the excitement for her, so as I came down the stairs I exclaimed loudly, “I’m going to find you!” As I neared the bottom of the stairs, I heard the sounds of toys banging together. Turning the corner, there was Maggie playing in her kitchen. I yelled, “I found you!”

She didn’t even look up. She had forgotten we were playing and was on to better things. Most people would be a little insulted by her actions, but I’m just hoping she does this again when it’s my turn to hide…with a cold beer a bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos.

Maggie has been into doing “big kid things” since she’s been potty trained. When she thinks of new things to try, she looks to her big kid role model, her best friend Amberlyn. It’s going to blow both their minds when they find out Maggie is the older of the two.

Yesterday Maggie decided that she will call me “Uncle Matt.” Apparently “Daddy” is what babies say.

Maggie is now 2-1/2 years old and always sharing new things she learns, sometimes without even knowing it. She will just start talking and surprise us with new topics. When she learns about something new, she always wants to know more and asks, “Can we talk about it?” We also learned that if we don’t teach her, she will find a way to learn.

One of her favorite shows to watch is Peppa Pig. She’s learned new phrases and sometimes even speaks with a British accent. II don’t know whether to correct her or not when we play and she says, “The toe-mah-toes cost five pounds. After we can put on our swimming costumes and sun cream and go to the pool. Ready, steady, go!”

Maggie’s imagination amazes me. She can go on a bus to the beach to play in the sand and build sand castles. Then she’ll ride her bike home. She blows bubbles and jumps up to pop them, and then goes to the store to get fruits for me. All while sitting in our family room!

Yesterday I was cleaning up after dinner and she asked me to play with her in the family room.

Maggie: Come on, Daddy. Drive to the beach!
Me: As soon as I am done with the dishes I will come play with you. Play with Mommy right now. You can pretend I’m playing with you.Maggie: Okay. Look, Mommy! Daddy is driving!

I’m never buying toys or taking her anywhere again! I hope the imaginary dad is a better dad than me.

There’s not a real good reason I never let Maggie see me naked. At first it was just because I stuck to the general convention that you don’t let people see your privates. Then it became a thing because it was thing, like saying “I love you” or meeting someone’s parents. The longer you don’t do it, the more difficult it is to just do it. (Yup. I just compared seeing my genitals to those important life moments.)

More recently it’s become a hassle. I’ll shower with her in my “shower shorts” and when using the toilet, I have to sit. I’ll pull my pants down and up very quickly after shouting, “Look over there!” After talking to Michelle about it, we decided it was no big deal. Plus we thought it would be better for her to know now when she isn’t going talk about it to all her friends at school and before the age where she recalls memories.

Nothing left to do but hop in the shower.

At first she didn’t notice. *Confidence lowered.* Then she pointed and laughed. *Confidence obliterated. It’s like high school all over again.* Then she started singing “Pop Goes the Weasel.” *Huh?* Eventually she stared at me and refused to get into the shower until Michelle had to shower with her. *Little bit offended.*

So she’s not yet comfortable with the fact that daddy is different than her, but she understands now that boys and girls are different. I guess it’s a start.

No, this website isn’t completely dead. Instagram has given a much simpler publishing platform to snapshot Maggie’s life, and I’ve been pretty busy singing “The Wheels on the Bus” 3 bazillion times in a row.

Recently I’ve been thinking about redoing our backyard, and of course I’d want it to be a place Maggie can play. My first thought went to a sandbox and jungle gym, but we have a park 100 yards away from our house with two playgrounds. So I started racking my brain to see what would be good and came up with this.

Click on the image to see it in its full glory.

As you can see from my expertly drafted blueprints, I intend for all equipment to be structural secure so big kids (me) can play too. Now comes an important question. Does anyone know how to build these things?

Maggie’s learning more every day, becoming less like a baby and more like a little kid. I’m not even sure where she learns some things or how she learns them. Michelle took Maggie to her 18-month checkup recently and told the doctor Maggie knows ever 100 words. When she told me that I told her, “No way. That seems like a lot.”

I went ahead and started counting them, and there are 175+ words I came up with pretty quickly. They might not all sound the way you or I might say them, but she definitely knows these words.

I’m pretty excited that my baby is a word learning machine, but I’ll probably regret it when she won’t stop talking.

I believe there’s a problem with the craft beer audience, which is affecting the craft beer industry. People are more enamored with the idea of craft beer than the actual beer itself. Consumers are blindly and hungrily devouring anything craft without paying enough attention to the actual beer.

The general consensus of the public is that craft beer is the polar opposite of the American Lite Lager. Breweries have been pushing bigger beers, because that is seemingly what the market wants. People are seeking out super hoppy, barrel aged, and beers with the oddest adjuncts, because they are seemingly more craft.

The problem this causes is that craft beer is moving so far to the extreme that craft beer is losing part of the market. Craft beer should be the full spectrum of the flavor rainbow, but it’s losing the lighter side of things. There is a disconnect between the craft beer available and the palate of a newcomer to the beer scene. The taste of the beer is a turn off to a lot my friends that are having to jump into beer, because there are no small steps to take.

This is not to say these bigger beers should not be made. They are also on the flavor spectrum for craft beer, and people do enjoy these beers. I enjoy some of them myself, but I think the mass of the consumers are drinking craft for craft’s sake, unknowingly shaping the market to one extreme.

There are breweries that do make awesome smaller beers, which I believe are great stepping stones into the beer scene and even great staples once you’re into beer, but they’re not reaching the consumers nearly as much. It’s not just reaching the taps and shelves that count. It’s about getting people to understand that this is also good craft beer It doesn’t make you any less cool to drink a beer that won’t destroy your palate or knock you on your ass after a single pint.

Me

Hello, there. My name is Matt, but on this website I just refer to myself as m@. I love all things Star Wars, food, beer, and music, especially The Beatles. I'm one who likes to be noticed and will sometimes say or do inappropriate things to get your attention. I'm perfectly complimented by my online and real life partner Michelle.